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Windy City sweep for Stars, 6-1

January 23, 2011 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Traverse City North Stars News Release


ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. - The Traverse City North Stars bid farewell to the Chicago Hitmen for the residual of the 2010-11 season, but left a lasting impression on Saturday at West Meadows, dropping the hosts by a 6-1 margin in the fifth and final meeting between the clubs.

The Stars - winners of four straight and seven of the last nine - swept the weekend set by an 11-2 margin, and have outscored the Hitmen by a whopping 28-9 combined score in the last four matchups.

"We were very good tonight, very good this entire weekend for big stretches," Explained Stars head coach/GM Anthony Palumbo. "There were some times when we weren't as good, when we got outworked, and we have to limit the duration of those stretches. Sometimes when you play a team so often, it's hard to stay ... energized, for lack of a better term. But all in all, we went on the road and got four points against a team that competes hard, and that's certainly something to be happy about."

Chris Leibinger (Saginaw, MI/Saginaw Heritage HS) and Eric Rivard (Traverse City, MI/TC North Stars) gave the visitors a 2-0 bulge after the first period, and Kelin Ainsworth (Thunder Bay, ONT/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) and Alec Shields (Pittsburgh, PA/TC North Stars) made it 4-0 less than seven minutes into the third following a scoreless middle frame. After Austin Cihak spoiled the shutout effort of Stars goalkeep Tyler Marble (Howell, MI/TC North Stars/Lake Superior St.) with 7:24 to play.

Tim Opie (Troy, MI/TC North Stars) potted his 16th goal of the year 39 seconds after TC surrendered its second goal of the weekend, and James Albrecht (Geneva, IL/Chicago NAHL) put an exclamation point on the season series with his first goal in a North Stars sweater at the 18:07 mark. Albrecht was returning to Chicagoland following his trade from the Hitmen a little more than a week ago. Marble, who made 48 saves in 50 chances in the series, won his 19th of the season against just 10 setbacks. He had 23 saves on Saturday.

"Tyler was good - he played big, looked confident, and there were some great saves around the goal mouth," Palumbo said. "He competed hard, really scrambling to make that second save. It was good to see."

Travis White (Sterling Heights, MI/TC North Stars) and Mitchell Snider (Traverse City, MI/TC West HS) led the assists parade with two each, while Opie, Albrecht, Ainsworth, Sean Murphy (Cary, NC/Austin NAHL), Ryan Amin (Canton, MI/TC North Stars), and Alexander Taulien (Crystal Lake, IL/Lansing Capitals U18) chipped in with one apiece.

Ainsworth continued his white-hot pace, scoring his 12th goal of the last six games; He has points in 16 of his last 17 outings, with 28 points over that span. Opie has been similarly combustible, with 27 points in the last 15 contests that includes 10 points in the current four-game streak.

Traverse City improved to 22-12-1, and pulled into sole possession of fourth place in the NAHL North Division standings, two points behind third-place Motor City.

The North Stars return to Centre ICE Arena next weekend, hosting the Port Huron Fighting Falcons in a Friday-Saturday series. Friday's contest is MSU Night, with fans who wear green & white to the game getting $1 off admission, with the club donating an additional dollar each to the Grand Traverse Area MSU Alumni Association Scholarship Fund. Saturday's series finale will also feature a post-game ‘Skate with the Stars'; Free rental skates are provided by Centre ICE, but helmets are fans' responsibility. Both games face-off at 7 p.m.



North American Hockey League Stories from January 23, 2011


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